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AUSTIN, Texas — Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke formally
announced Thursday that he’ll seek the 2020 Democratic presidential
nomination, ending months of intense speculation over whether he’d
try to translate his newfound political celebrity into a White
House bid.

Until he challenged Republican Sen. Ted Cruz last year, O’Rourke
was little known outside his hometown of El Paso. But the
Spanish-speaking 46-year-old former punk rocker became a sensation
during a campaign that used grassroots organizing and social media
savvy to mobilize young voters and minorities. He got within 3
percentage points of upsetting Cruz in the nation’s largest red
state — and shattered national fundraising records in the process —
immediately fueling chatter that he could have higher
ambitions.

Now O’Rourke must prove whether the energy he brought to the
Texas campaign will resonate on a much larger stage. For all the
buzz associated with his candidacy, the former three-term
congressman hasn’t demonstrated much skill in domestic or foreign
policy. And, as a white man, he’s entering a field that has been
celebrated for its diverse roster of women and people and
color.

O’Rourke joins a large and unsettled 2020 field in which his
fundraising prowess, bipartisan optimism, southwestern Texas charm
and anti-establishment attitude could quickly make him a political
force. His lack of governing experience could hurt, but President
Donald Trump’s rise suggests that the U.S. electorate might welcome
a charismatic outsider.

The sports and entertainment world already had its eye on
O’Rourke during the Senate campaign: NBA star LeBron James wore an
O’Rourke hat after video of the Texan defending NFL players’ right
to protest during the national anthem went viral. Beyonce, a
Houston native, endorsed O’Rourke.

And he was the only presidential prospect interviewed in
February by Oprah Winfrey, who appeared genuinely excited about the
prospect of an O’Rourke White House run.

Should he parlay a 2018 Senate defeat into a successful 2020
White House campaign, O’Rourke would be the first U.S. politician
to do so since Abraham Lincoln lost his Senate bid to Stephen
Douglas in Illinois in 1858, then was elected president two years
later.

Democrats have long dreamed that a booming Hispanic population
and droves of Americans moving to Texas from elsewhere could turn
the nation’s largest red state blue and transform the Electoral
College by making the Republican path to the presidency all but
impossible. It remains to be seen, though, whether O’Rourke’s
home-state appeal could truly make Texas competitive. Another
Texan, former Obama administration housing chief Julian Castro, was
already running.

Trump has repeatedly blasted the idea of an O’Rourke
presidential try, calling him a “flake” and a “total lightweight”
and joking, “I thought you were supposed to win before you run for
president.”

O’Rourke visited all 254 of Texas’ counties while running for
Senate and often drew larger-than-expected crowds, including in
conservative areas that Democrats gave up on decades ago. It’s a
strategy that could serve him well in Iowa, which kicks off
presidential voting and where Cruz campaigned in all 99 counties
before winning its caucus during the 2016 GOP presidential
primary.

O’Rourke is scheduled to visit Iowa later Thursday and has three
full days of political events planned there.

The Texan’s advisers have reached out to early-state Democratic
officials seeking advice for potential hires and strategy. And, in
New Hampshire, home to the nation’s first primary, an O’Rourke
adviser asked for guidance on how they might schedule a driving
tour through the state should he arrive coming from the West —
indicating that a cross-country trip of sorts might be part of a
campaign rollout plan.

Although he isn’t among the first wave of Democrats to jump into
the race, O’Rourke enters with strong national name recognition.
Democratic operatives in states with early presidential primaries,
including South Carolina and Nevada, have formed Draft Beto groups
that spent months fundraising, lining up potential O’Rourke
endorsements and building campaign infrastructure until their
candidate was ready.

A onetime guitarist for an El Paso punk band called Foss,
O’Rourke boosted his already considerable nonpolitical street cred
in the Senate race with a viral video showing him skateboarding
across a Whataburger restaurant parking lot. His trademark
black-and-white “Beto for Senate” signs became hipster must-haves
last year in some parts of Seattle, Los Angeles and Brooklyn.

O’Rourke refused support from outside political groups and
shunned pollsters during his Senate campaign. But he harnessed
growing nationwide popularity to rake in $80-plus million in
donations, including a staggering $38 million from July to
September 2018 alone.

While challenging Cruz, O’Rourke insisted that he had no
interest in running for president, vowing to quietly return to El
Paso should he lose. But during his election night concession
speech, he let rip the kind of casual swearing that freckled an
unorthodox campaign, declaring to supporters on national
television: “All of you, showing the country how you do this, I’m
so f—ing proud of you guys,” before promising, “We’ll see you down
the road.”

Other 2020 Democratic hopefuls have promoted their extensive
legislative records. O’Rourke passed just three bills during his
six years in Congress: two related to temporary health benefits and
college tuition assistance to veterans and one renaming El Paso’s
federal courthouse.

O’Rourke has shrugged off such complaints, saying he doesn’t
know if he’s liberal enough to be called a “progressive” and
doesn’t much care for party labels. But it’s a question he may not
be able to duck forever, especially with Sanders in the 2020
Democratic presidential primary fray.